Bathtub for children

ABSTRACT

The bathtub for children ( 1 ) includes a plastic basin ( 2 ), provided to contain water to bathe a young child therein, including a newborn or an infant. In order to keep the bathwater warm effectively, while providing that the bathtub for children is easy to manufacture and use, the novel bathtub provides that a wall, in particular the bottom ( 4 ), of the basin is provided with heat release elements ( 10 ), suitable for returning the previously-accumulated heat to the water contained in the basin.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a bathtub for children.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A bathtub for children is a childcare item used to bathe a young child, typically from the birth of the child until the age of several months, or even several years. Such a bathtub comprises a basin, which is made from plastic and is often placed in a shower tub or at the bottom of an adult bathtub, directly on the ground or on feet adapted to the child bathtub, before being partially filled with water to bathe the child therein in order to wash him or her.

A bath for a young child is quite often longer than is strictly necessary to wash the child: indeed, bath time is a special time between parents and their baby in order to calm the baby, or to stimulate him or her, in particular through tactile and olfactory means, or to play. In practice, it is recommended that the water contained the basin of the tub be at a temperature comprised between approximately 36 and 37° C. Using a thermometer, it is easy to ensure that the temperature of the bathwater is satisfactory just before the child is placed in that water. However, the temperature tends to drop quickly due to heat loss, which makes it necessary to limit the length of the bath.

In order to keep the temperature of the water contained in the basin at a value as close as possible to the desired value, the parents may try to add hot water during the bath: however, this operation is tedious and potentially dangerous if the bathwater is very hot, and carries a risk of burning the child. Another solution consists of increasing the thermal insulation of the walls of the basin of the bathtub, in order to decrease heat loss through those walls. It is thus known to make the walls of the basin in the form of a double shell forming an insulating air enclosure surrounding the basin: this solution is limited in terms of heat performance and has real constraints in terms of the design and manufacture of the basin, as well as usage and hygiene problems inasmuch as residual water tends to infiltrate and stagnate in the double shell.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the present invention is to propose a bathtub for young children that is more effective in order to maintain the warm bathwater, while being easy to manufacture and use.

To that end, the invention relates to a bathtub for children, including a plastic basin, which is provided to contain water to bathe a young child therein, including a newborn or an infant, and which has a wall provided with heat release means for returning previously-accumulated heat to the water contained in the basin.

One of the ideas of the base of the invention is to keep the water contained in the basin of the bathtub hot, typically around approximately 36 or 37° C., by gradually it providing it with heat during the bath, i.e., by offsetting the heat loss. To that end, the invention proposes to incorporate heat release means into a plastic wall of the basin, said means storing heat through any suitable means before the bath, then once the basin has been filled with hot water, i.e., at 37° C. for the bath, slowly returning at least part of that heat to the water contained in the basin so as to offset the heat loss effect. It will be understood that in a way, these heat release means constitute a hot water basin for the bathtub according to the invention. In fact, as outlined in the example embodiment of the invention that will be described below, the heat release means use the principle of heat accumulators, by adapting that principle wisely and effectively to the bathtub for children. Aside from these heat release means, the basin of the bathtub does not have specific design constraints, such that it may use all or some of the specificities of a pre-existing bathtub and/or it may advantageously be designed particularly originally, while offering the heat maintaining effect associated with the release means.

According to additional advantageous features of the bathtub for children according to the invention:

-   -   the heat release means comprise a heat accumulator, having a         thermal inertia which is greater than that of the water and         being provided to transfer its heat essentially by convection to         the water contained in the basin;     -   the heat accumulator is able to be heated by microwave         radiation;     -   the heat accumulator is able to be heated by a microwave oven;     -   the heat accumulator is able to be heated by submersion in a hot         liquid;     -   the heat accumulator is able to be heated by submersion in a         double boiler;     -   the heat accumulator is made up of a mixture of peat and water,         contained in one or more tight bags;     -   the heat release means further comprise a cartridge for         receiving the heat accumulator, which keeps the heat accumulator         in place relative to said wall of the basin and through which         the water contained in the basin flows up to the surface of the         heat accumulator;     -   the cartridge is provided with connecting elements for removably         connecting to said wall of the basin;     -   the connecting elements of the cartridge are designed to         cooperate by shape matching with a cavity of said wall of the         basin, inside which cavity the cartridge is received;     -   the cartridge is provided with an integrated handle for         transporting the heat release means when the heat release means         are separated from said wall of the basin;     -   the heat release means are removable with respect to said wall         of the basin;     -   the bathtub for children further includes locking means for         locking the heat release means in position when the heat release         means are connected to said wall of the basin;     -   said wall of the basin is the bottom of the basin;     -   the bottom and a side wall of the basin have a bilobed profile,         one of the two lobes of which is larger than the other, and the         heat release means are arranged in the part of the bottom of the         basin delimited by the larger of those lobes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood upon reading the following description, provided solely as an example and done in reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a bathtub according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view along arrow II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along line III-III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a separable part, shown alone, belonging to the bathtub of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an elevation view along arrow V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view along line VI-VI FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an elevation view along arrow VII the FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 1, partially showing the bathtub of FIG. 1, without its detachable part shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 3, partially showing the bathtub and its separable part in an exploded view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 to 9 show a bathtub for children 1 making it possible to bathe a young child, the latter indifferently being a newborn, an infant under the age of six months or a baby over the age of six months. In practice, the bathtub for children 1 may be used to bathe a child until the latter has reached two or even three years of age, inasmuch as the child remains comfortable within the bathtub 1 to take a bath. While the child is only several months of age, it is possible to lay him or her down inside the bathtub 1, taking the precaution of supporting the upper part of the child's body, using a bath chair or directly by the arm of the adult giving the bath to the child. Once the child has developed his or her own motor skills, it is possible for the child to hold himself or herself in the seated position inside the bathtub.

The bathtub 1 comprises a basin 2 which, when the bathtub 1 is used, contains water to bathe the young child. In practice, in a manner known in itself, the basin 2 does not need to be completely filled with water, but instead is only partially filled during use, with a water depth adapted to the age of the child, for example approximately ten centimeters.

The basin 2, which is made from plastic, includes a wall forming the bottom of the basin: during use, this bottom 4 is arranged substantially horizontally, for example by resting in a shower tub or on the bottom of an adult bathtub. As an alternative that is not shown, the bottom 4 is equipped with feet, or even a tripod, making it possible to raise the basin 2 off the ground. In all cases, when the bathtub 1 is used to bathe a child, the latter bears against the upper face 4A of the bottom 4, while for example being seated on the upper face 4A or by means of a bath chair placed on the upper face 4A.

The basin 2 also includes a side wall 6 that rises upward from the outer periphery of the bottom 4, while running along the outer periphery, so as to delimit, jointly with the bottom 4, a free volume designed to contain bathwater. The side wall 6 and the bottom 4, which are made from plastic, are in particular integral with one another. In the example embodiment considered in the figures, the side wall 6 flares upward, that embodiment not being limiting.

According to one advantageous optional arrangement, one of the interests of which will appear below, the bottom 4 and the side wall 6 of the basin 2 have a bilobed profile, one of the two lobes of which is larger than the other, as clearly shown in FIG. 1, in which the right lobe is larger than the left lobe. More specifically, in the example embodiment considered in the figures, this bilobed profile is exhibited both by the outer contour of the bottom 4 and by the cross-section, i.e., the section in a plane parallel to the upper face 4A of the bottom 4, of the side wall 6, such that the bilobed profile of the upper edge 6A of the side wall 6 is both larger than and substantially homothetic to the bilobed profile of the outer contour of the bottom 4, as clearly shown in FIG. 1. This bilobed profile gives the basin 2, when the latter is viewed vertically from the top, a peanut-shaped contour that is wider on one side than the other. This bilobed design, with one lobe larger than the other, which is non-limiting on the present invention and which may furthermore be implemented independently of the other features of the bathtub 1, makes it possible to distribute the inner volume of the basin 2 into two sub-volumes, which are respectively associated with the two lobes and which have, in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction in which the two lobes are opposed, different respective dimensions: the sub-volume associated with the smaller lobe and that is narrower in the aforementioned horizontal direction facilitates maintenance in place of the newborn or an infant under the age of six months during the bath, while the sub-volume associated with the larger of the lobes and that is wider in the aforementioned horizontal direction facilitates the placement of the child in the seated position when the latter in particular is over the age of six months.

According to another advantageous optional arrangement, which is clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper edge 6A of the side wall 6 is indented in both of its portions, which connect its opposite portions selectively associated with the two lobes of the aforementioned bilobed profile to one another. Again, the presence of these indentations is not limiting.

The bathtub 1 further comprises means for releasing heat 10, which are shown in combination with the basin 2 in FIGS. 1, 3 and 9 and which are shown alone in FIGS. 4 to 7. These heat release means 10 comprise, or here consist of, a heat accumulator 12 and a cartridge 14 receiving the heat accumulator 12.

The heat accumulator 12 is, at least for the most part, made from a material that has a high thermal inertia, in particular significantly higher than the inertia of the water, and which, subject to its exposure to a sufficient power or heat source, stores the heat, then, once the exposure to the aforementioned power or heat source is interrupted, gradually returns the heat that it has accumulated. Due to its high thermal inertia, the material of the heat accumulator 12 heats up, when it is exposed to the aforementioned power or heat source, relatively slowly, having nevertheless noted that the heat transfer may be strengthened and thus, in some way, accelerated by providing that the power or heat source is powerful enough. Once the exposure is interrupted, the material of the heat accumulator 12 cool slowly, while releasing previously accumulated heat gradually and homogenously, by transferring that heat to the ambient medium.

In the extension of the preceding considerations, one preferred embodiment of the heat accumulator 12 is to provide that the material of the latter can be heated by microwave radiation: the accumulation of heat in the material can be done by heating the heat accumulator 12 in a microwave oven, typically a microwave oven intended for the general public, which is practical and makes it possible to accumulate a large amount of heat therein quickly. That being said, another heat source is also possible, in particular liquid heat, such as household hot water or a double boiler, in which the heat accumulator is submerged. Likewise, alternatively, the heat accumulation may be obtained by placing the accumulator 12 on a radiator or another available heat source for a long time, for example several hours.

As one preferred example for the heat accumulator 12, the latter is made up of a mixture of peat and water, contained in one or more tight bags. One alternative for example consists of cherry pits or grains of certain cereals, contained in one or more pouches, which are preferably tight. Another example consists of mud, in particular thermal mud. More generally, various materials known in the art may be used for the heat accumulator 12, in connection with the other considerations of the present document.

As clearly shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the cartridge 14 is generally cake-shaped, and is hollow so as to delimit an inner volume inside which the accumulator 12 is arranged, in practice permanently and substantially fixedly. As an example, the cartridge 14 is made from a plastic material. The cartridge 12 thus comprises two main walls 16 and 18, across from one another and here substantially discoid, as well as a side wall 20, here substantially cylindrical, that connects the main walls 16 and 18 to each other, the walls 16, 18 and 20 jointly delimiting the inner volume of the cartridge 14 between them, inside which the accumulator 12 is arranged. The embodiment of the side wall 20 is not limiting on the present invention, inasmuch as that wall 20 provides the fixed connection between the main walls 16 and 18 in order to keep the cartridge 14 closed. As an example, the wall 20 forms a single piece with one of the two walls 16 and 18, while the other of those walls 16 and 18 is provided to be clipped or otherwise similarly attached to the wall 20.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the main walls 16 and 18 are openwork, while being provided with through orifices 22 connecting the inner volume of the cartridge 14 to the outside of the cartridge. In this way, the water is free to flow from the outside of the cartridge 14 to the inside of its inner volume, as far as the surface of the heat accumulator 12, both for the part thereof turned toward the main wall 16 and for the part of the accumulator 12 turned toward the main wall 18.

For reasons that will become evident below, the main wall 16 is extended, at its periphery, by a collar 24, which protrudes outside the side wall 20 and through which through orifices 26 are provided. The main wall 18 is outwardly provided with protruding feet 28, here four.

The overall outer shape of the cartridge 14 is provided to be complementary to a cavity 4B delimited by the bottom 4 of the basin 2, hollow from the upper face 4A of that bottom 4. In this way, the cartridge 14 is sized to be received in a substantially complementary manner in the cavity 4B, as shown in FIG. 3. Advantageously, as for the example embodiment considered in the figures, the cartridge 14 is thus received in its entirety inside the cavity 4B such that on the one hand, the main wall 18 is oriented toward the bottom of the cavity 4B, with its feet 28 pressing against the bottom of that cavity, and on the other hand, the outer face of the main wall 16 extends flush with the upper face 4A of the bottom 4, with the collar 24 received in an adjusted manner in a complementary recess delimited in the upper face 4A at the mouth of the cavity 4B. Between the side wall 20 of the cartridge 14 and the facing part of the cavity 4B, a free interstice is formed, here with an annular shape, which downwardly emerges on the free interstice, formed by the feet 28 between the main wall 18 and the bottom of the cavity 4B, and which upwardly emerges outside the cavity 4B via the through orifices 26 of the collar 24. Thus, one understands that, when the cartridge 14 is received in the cavity 4B of the bottom 4 of the basin 2 as shown in FIG. 3 and, in this way, the bottom of the basin is equipped with means for releasing heat 10, the water contained in the basin 2 is free to flow around and inside the cartridge 14, up to the surface of the heat accumulator, both through the through orifices 22 of the main wall 16, and successively via the through orifices 26 of the collar 24, the aforementioned interstices formed between the cavity 4B and the walls 18 and 20 of the cartridge, and the through orifices 22 of the main wall 18. More generally, this flow of the water contained in the basin 2 up to the surface of the accumulator 12 favors the transfer by convection of the heat previously stored by that accumulator 12 to the bathwater, while the heat accumulator 12 is kept in place relative to the bottom 4 of the basin 2 by the cartridge 14 received a complementary manner in the cavity 4B.

Advantageously, as in the example embodiment considered in the figures, the cavity 4B is situated in the part of the bottom 4, delimited by the larger of the two lobes of the aforementioned bilobed profile: in this way, the cavity 4B is provided in the widest part of the bottom 4, as clearly shown in FIG. 1.

According to one particularly advantageous arrangement, the connection between the cartridge 14 and the bottom 4 of the basin 2 is removable: in the example embodiment considered here, the cooperation by shape matching between the cavity 4B of the bottom 4 on the one hand and the cartridge 14 on the other hand, more specifically its collar 24 and its feet 28, is reversible, as indicated in FIG. 9, in which arrow F1 indicates the placement, by a downward movement, of the cartridge 14 in the cavity 4B until it occupies the configuration, shown in FIG. 3, for use of the heat release means with the rest the bathtub, while arrow F2 indicates the removal, by an upward movement, of the cartridge 14 with respect to the bottom 4 of the basin 2. More generally, irrespective of the embodiment, the heat release means 10 are thus provided to be removable from the bottom 4 of the basin 2, which is primarily of interest because it greatly facilitates the exposure of the heat accumulator 12 to the power or heat source, described above. For example, as previously explained, in the event this heat accumulator 12 is provided to be heated by microwave radiation, the fact that the heat release means 10 are removable makes it possible to separate them from the rest of the basin, to insert them alone into a microwave oven, as long as their size is appropriate, in particular the maximum outer diameter of the cartridge 14. Similar considerations apply in the event the heat accumulator is provided to be heated by submersion in a hot liquid such as a double boiler.

By taking the preceding considerations into account, it is understood that in particular in the embodiment considered in the figures, the size and position of the release means 10 are advantageously optimized to reconcile a reasonable overall bulk, a discrete arrangement, in particular non-protruding, with respect to the walls of the basin 2, a large prior heat accumulation capacity, and good distribution of that heat to the water contained in the basin 2.

In order to facilitate the transport of the heat release means 10 when they are separated from the bottom 4 of the basin 2, their cartridge 14 advantageously incorporates a handle 32 which, here, is made in the form of a recess of the side wall 20, connecting the respective outer faces of the main walls 16 and 18 to one another. Of course, embodiments other than that considered in the figures can be considered for this transport handle 32, the hollow shape of the latter favoring the flow of water through the cartridge 14.

When the heat release means 10 are provided to be removable with respect to the bottom 4 of the basin 2, an additional advantageous arrangement is to provide for them to be locked in position when they are connected to the basin. In practice, various embodiments can be considered for ad hoc locking means. In the example embodiment considered here, first locking may be obtained by resistant rubbing or by jamming between the cavity 4B and protruding studs 30, with which the side wall 20 of the cartridge 14 is outwardly provided and which are distributed along the periphery of the wall 20, as shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7: in this way, a substantial force, which can only be generated by an adult, is then necessary to overcome the interference between the studs 30 and the cavity 4B when the heat release means 10 must be removed with respect to the rest of the basin 2.

Second locking may be provided at the handle 32. As an example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the bottom of the cavity 4B is provided with protruding raised portions 34: these raised portions 34 become engaged inside the handle 32 when the heat release means 10 are in the usage configuration of FIG. 3, such that, in addition to participating in the connection between the cartridge 14 and the bottom 4 of the basin, those raised portions 34 block, in particular by preventing the rotation of the cartridge 14 around itself inside the cavity 4B, for example by resistant rubbing or by jamming, the untimely removal of the heat release means 10, if applicable in collaboration with an attached locking element 36, such as a stopper, shown in FIG. 1.

Irrespective of the embodiment of the aforementioned locking means, it will be noted that the latter in particular take advantage of the gravitational tendency of the release means 10 to remain in the cavity 4B in the bottom 4 of the basin 2, due to the weight of those means 10, in particular the weight of the heat accumulator 12.

Various developments and alternatives of the bathtub 1 described thus far may also be considered: For example:

-   -   rather than arranging the heat release means 10 in the wall         forming the bottom 4 of the basin 2, those means may be         supported by the side wall 6, more specifically in the lower         part of that wall so that those means are in contact with the         water contained in the basin 2, even when the latter is only         partially filled;     -   the cartridge 14 may assume outer shapes other than the cake         shape shown in the figures, in particular to adapt to other         designs for the basin 2; and/or     -   although not shown in the figures, the bathtub 1 may be equipped         with developments which are known in themselves for bathtubs for         children, such as an emptying device, nonslip pads, etc. 

1. A bathtub for children, including a plastic basin, which is provided to contain water to bathe a young child therein, including a newborn or an infant, and which has a wall provided with heat release means for returning previously-accumulated heat to the water contained in the basin.
 2. The bathtub for children according to claim 1, wherein the heat release means comprise a heat accumulator, having a thermal inertia which is greater than that of the water and being provided to transfer its heat essentially by convection to the water contained in the basin.
 3. The bathtub for children according to claim 2, wherein the heat accumulator is able to be heated by microwave radiation.
 4. The bathtub for children according to claim 3, wherein the heat accumulator is able to be heated by a microwave oven.
 5. The bathtub for children according to claim 2, wherein the heat accumulator is able to be heated by submersion in a hot liquid.
 6. The bathtub for children according to claim 5, wherein the heat accumulator is able to be heated by submersion in a double boiler.
 7. The bathtub for children according to claim 2, wherein the heat accumulator is made up of a mixture of peat and water, contained in one or more tight bags.
 8. The bathtub for children according to claim 2, wherein the heat release means further comprise a cartridge for receiving the heat accumulator, which keeps the heat accumulator in place relative to said wall of the basin and through which the water contained in the basin flows up to the surface of the heat accumulator.
 9. The bathtub for children according to claim 8, wherein the cartridge is provided with connecting elements for removably connecting to said wall of the basin.
 10. The bathtub for children according to claim 9, wherein the connecting elements of the cartridge are designed to cooperate by shape matching with a cavity of said wall of the basin, inside which cavity the cartridge is received.
 11. The bathtub for children according to claim 9, wherein the cartridge is provided with an integrated handle for transporting the heat release means when the heat release means are separated from said wall of the basin.
 12. The bathtub for children according to claim 1, wherein the heat release means are removable with respect to said wall of the basin.
 13. The bathtub for children according to claim 12, wherein the bathtub for children further includes locking means for locking the heat release means in position when the heat release means are connected to said wall of the basin.
 14. The bathtub for children according to claim 1, wherein said wall of the basin is the bottom of the basin.
 15. The bathtub for children according to claim 14, wherein the bottom and a side wall of the basin have a bilobed profile, one of the two lobes of which is larger than the other, and wherein the heat release means are arranged in the part of the bottom of the basin delimited by the larger of those lobes. 